114. Fire Will Come (O que arde); movie review

FIRE WILL COME (O QUE ARDE)
Cert 12A
86 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, moderate violence

When a movie wins 18 awards, it would be usual to expect something special.
Therefore, Mrs W and I sat down to Fire Will Come with a sense of anticipation on our first Coronavirus-avoiding Saturday.
Unfortunately, we were disappointed. We were in desperate need of entertainment but Oliver Laxe's film requires more patience than we had.
It stars Amador (Amador Arias) who has been released from prison after a two-year stretch for setting fires.
He returns to a small village, hidden in the mountains of rural Galicia, in north-western Spain to live with his elderly mother, Benedicta Sánchez, and their three cows. 
We wanted to know how the bovine trio made them enough money to survive.
I digress - Amador tries to keep himself to himself but is aware of gossip about his past and that locals distrust him.
And he is never able to shake the tag as he tries to get himself on his feet.
Apparently, Galicia is one of the areas with the highest number of wildfires in Europe. 
Many are caused by lightning or various situations of carelessness but most of them are set deliberately for different reasons and, as is evidenced here, there is always a search for a scapegoat.
Is Amador a villain or a victim of circumstance and how do people construct their lives halfway up a mountain? What of his mother who wants to stand by her son despite knowing what he has done in the past?
These are good questions but are only superficially explored in a film which is more akin to a fly-on-the-wall documentary than a drama.
It is a movie which gives us a fair sense of the isolation of living on the side of a mountain but its punch came far too late for any resolutions and, therefore, it left me frustrated.

Reasons to watch: Much acclaimed
Reasons to avoid: Too quiet for our taste

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 4.5/10

Did you know? Galician is a Romance language spoken by about 2.4 million people mainly in Galicia, in the north-west corner of Spain. It is also spoken in neighbouring areas of Asturias and Castile and León.

The final word. Oliver Laxe: "Public opinion is searching for people to blame – it is out for blood! And of course, the figure of the pyromaniac is one of the most demonised today. I am always astounded when society ostracises an individual."

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